Somewhere Safe.

Chapter 3

Satisfied, and also a little guilty with my decision to report the incident, I focused on my work that was in front of me. I also opened a new tab in my browser to check the news, whether or not he was found. Not a single headline spoke of a man found dead in the middle of the road. Sighing, I scrolled down but to no avail.  

"Hey there." I heard a voice above me. 

I looked up and there he was, leaning on my cubicle, smiling like we had known each other forever. Zach. Wide-eyed, I somehow managed to smile. 

"Hey. Is there a problem?" 

Mentally, I berated myself. A Problem? What the hell?! Why couldn't I have asked "How are you?" like a normal person? 

He raised an eyebrow. "There's no problem, Em. I heard you needed some help with the maintenance part of the system?" 

Em! He called me Em! It sounded so good!  

"Oh, ah. Right, right. There's some bug I can't seem to remove." I replied, managing not to stutter or say something stupid this time. Well, almost anyway.

"Show me." 

"Yeah." 

I opened the test software program and showed him the problem. He had leaned down to view the screen clearly and I caught a whiff of his scent, musk and something else I couldn't recognise.  

What the hell? Why am I acting like a teenager? 

"Would you like to sit down?" I asked him. 

"Sure, if that's okay." 

"It's alright." 

I gave up my seat to him and he peered at the screen, carefully looking at the code. I was simply admiring him there, sitting at my desk.  

"Here, these lines were causing trouble. It should be alright now." 

My jaw dropped. It had been merely 2 minutes and he solved the problem whereas I couldn't do so in a day. 

"Wow! That was fast. Thanks, Zach!" 

"No problem. See you." 

"Yeah."I replied. 

He went away. Rest of the day went rather uneventfully. I almost slapped myself then. Seriously? 

I liked uneventful days. No, loved them. Yesterday was quite eventful in a horrible way. 

I met Ana outside the building. Whittfield Corporation was one of the tallest and fanciest buildings around here, it felt great working in it.  

"Want to grab coffee or something before heading home?" She asked happily. 

"Oh, sure." 

We headed to the nearest Starbucks joint and ordered our usual. Hazelnut hot chocolate. It was simply divine in winters.  

"Hey Em. Are you really okay?" She asked me, looking worried. 

"Of course. I am okay. Why?" 

"You're acting kind of...wary. Like you expect someone to jump out on you with a gun or something." 

Her words almost hit home. I quickly schooled my features into a smile.  

"I didn't notice. " 

"Hmmm...You need to go out a little. Ask someone out! Or, I know! I can set up a blind date!!" she chirped happily. 

"No, not happening!" 

"Oh come on! You should date! At least once." 

"I am good as I am." True that I had never dated anyone. I know it was unheard of but I just couldn't. Every time I even imagined myself with someone, I would remember him. And I didn't want to. 

I shivered slightly, more due to the memories that I tried to repress rather than the cold.  

I felt a warm hand on mine. I looked up.

"Hey, you're not, you know, remembering right?" Ana looked at me, concern evident on her face. 

She knew me too well. I gave her a weak smile. She nodded, not saying anything. We let the matter drop. 

The café was getting crowded, courtesy of the cold outside. We left our seats, avoiding people as much as possible. I was just about to get out when I bumped my shoulder with a man. He dropped his keys due to the impact. I crouched down picking them up and was about to apologize but my words died in my throat. 

Black, silky hair framing a square, well chiseled face. But what had caught my attention were those electric-blue eyes. Which currently were glaring at me. 

"Sorry." I said as he snatched his keys and turned back towards the shop without saying anything. 

Why did he glare at me like that? It's not like I had purposely bumped into him. 

Irritated, I stepped outside.  

"Ana, you go on ahead I have to do a bit of grocery shopping before heading home. I'll take a taxi." 

"Alright girl! See you on Monday then." 

"Yep, bye!" 

She made her way to car and I stood there wondering, why did I lie to her? I could tell her, she would listen to me. Probably help me even. But something had stopped me from doing so. After making sure she had left, I took a taxi. 

"Where to?" The driver asked me. 

"The police station."